


Almost There

by ChampionFlyer



Series: Starting Fresh [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam is a Doctor, Adopted Lance, Angst, Cancer, Fluff, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Keith is a good boyfriend, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance is Shiro and Adams son, Lung Cancer, M/M, Sickfic, adashi, klance, shiro is trying, welcome to hell - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-09-15 16:43:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16936932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChampionFlyer/pseuds/ChampionFlyer
Summary: To the road of uncertainty and hopefulness.Will Lance survive his condition? Or will uncertainty become an enemy.





	1. Zoo Trip

“Lance, did you know sharks never sleep?” Adam said, reading from the zoo pamphlet that he grabbed at one of the local restaurants. Today, Shiro decided that it would be a good day to spend some quality time with his boys at the zoo. Plus he knew how much Lance hated being cooped up in the house constantly due to the allergy levels in the air. 

Long story short, Lance spent too much time outside without his defibrillator that he passed out from not be able to breathe properly. Shiro was so worried. Adam, on the other hand, knew exactly how to handle the situation. In the end, Lance was alright but it still gave everyone a bit of a scare. Now Lance wears his defibrillator everywhere he goes, just to avoid any future accidents. 

“Really? That's so cool!” Lance shouted from the back of the car, his little voice ringing out as he blabbered on about how dolphins use echolocation to find their food. Shiro chuckled at Lance’s excitement. He was also excited to go to the zoo. Altea Zoo and Aquarium is most famous for its two male lions, who are officially deemed a couple, according to the local newspapers. They host a pride parade every year in hopes of raising the spirits for the local gay folk. 

He and Adam attended this year's festival, along with Lance and his stuffed lion. They even made the newspaper. 

Shiro entered the parking lot, driving at a speed so slow it could be rivaled by a turtle. He was extra cautious about driving anywhere where there were little kids around. He found a parking space right near the entrance and coincidentally, Allura had parked right next to him. Shiro could see her car but no Allura. Or Keith. 

Lance hobbled out of the backseat as Shiro and Adam exited the front. “Shiro, help,” Lance whimpered as he tried to get his defibrillator cord untangled from the mess of other cords. 

“Okay okay, calm down,” Shiro said as he knelt beside the panicked boy, trying to untangle the cords without jostling Lance too much. “See there you go. All better now.” 

Lance sniffled and the tears that had gathered in his eyes quickly dispersed as Shiro placed the defibrillator in the carrying case. Lance’s defibrillator was light and easy for him to carry. He usually carries it in a small backpack or he will drag it behind himself. 

Lance grabbed ahold of Shiro’s hand and together they made their way over to Adam, who paid for the tickets while they were dealing with their little situation. “Hey, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, his breathing tube was all tangled up and I think it just got him a little frustrated,” Shiro spoke in a forced happy voice but Adam could see right through his voice. Lance always gets frustrated when he can’t do things correctly. In the end, he either cries into Shiro’s shoulder or gives up after finding it’s not a big deal. 

“Okay. You alright buddy?” Lance nodded his head, but still remained pressed to Shiro’s side. Once they got through the gates to the zoo, Lance brightened up and took Adam’s hand, connecting the three of them in a line. Adam smiled at Shiro then down at Lance, who was happily blabbering on about how a snail can sleep for three years. After about ten minutes of walking around, Lance’s eyes went wide with shock and happiness. 

“KEITH!” He called across the small crowded viewing area. The tiny raven-haired boy spun around, eyes wider than the moon. 

“LANCE!” Keith made a mad dash for the brunette as the other dropped the hands he was holding and ran as well. They collided in a big hug in the middle of the polar bear viewing area. “I missed you so much! Are you still sick? Are you better? Do you want to go see the sharks?” Lance could barely keep up with the questions. They were shooting at him with lightning speed. He could barely keep up with Keith’s usual questions. 

“I’m getting better. Soon I’ll be alright and we can play every day!” Shiro’s heart grew heavy at that statement. 

Was Lance really getting better? 

“Hey,” A voice snapped Shiro out of his trance. “He’s getting better. He will be okay very soon,” Adam said, taking Shiro’s hand and gently squeezing it. “Plus I am the medical professional here and if I say he’s getting better, you should believe me,” He said in a playful yet sincere tone. Shiro almost kissed him right then and there. 

“Hello, Shiro. Who’s this?” Allura asked, Shiro not even knowing she had approached them. 

“Oh hey Allura! I didn’t even see you there. Uh right, so you know that new doctor Lance got a while back?”

“Umm, I believe that you had mentioned it. Yeah, why?”

Shiro was sure to pause for a dramatic event. “Well… he’s my boyfriend now,” Allura’s eyes went wide as saucers and a smile drew back on her face. Adam laughed and squeezed Shiro’s hand tighter. Shiro squeezed back. It was a little game they liked to play. Trying to see who could squeeze the hardest while trying to make the other scream. After all, love is pain. And Adam usually wins. 

“Oh. My. Quiznak. THAT’S SO AMAZING UGHHH! IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU GUYS!” Allura was practically bouncing in place, happiness radiating off her natural glow. Allura supports Shiro in every level, through love and life. 

“Shiro look! Keith’s here too!” 

“I see that bud. What do you guys want to do first?” Shiro asked. The six-year-olds exchanged glances before they broke into an excited chant. 

“Sharks!”

Keith didn’t like sharks as much as Lance, but he knew that Lance needed this. He needed to give Lance the best experience before he goes back to the harsh reality of medicine and recovery. Keith missed Lance. Lance was his boyfriend. They were gonna get married and have twenty dogs. 

The group made their way through the zoo, and today being a Monday, there was barely anyone there. Aside from school field trips or the occasional spoiled homeschooled brat, they were the only ones there. Keith held onto Lance’s hand as they walked in front of Shiro, Adam, and Allura. Keith made sure to be careful around Lance. He didn’t walk too fast or yank him anywhere. Keith might be six but he wasn’t stupid. He knew the severity of Lance’s illness and knew how to be careful with him. 

They approached the giant aquarium and walked up the concrete steps to the glass doors. A lady in beige shorts and a navy blue aquarium staff t-shirt greeted them at the door with a giant smile. “Hey, there boys! Are ya having fun!”

“Yeah!” Both Keith and Lance shouted in unison. They had really only been to a couple of exhibits but so far they have had the most fun they've had in a while. Lance had been cooped up in hospitals and in the house so much he's pretty much forgotten what it’s like not waking up and feeling pain somewhere in his body. Keith has had his laughs, but nothing has been the same without Lance. They haven’t played Aliens VS Sharks in who knows how long. 

“Well, today I get to show a few lucky people our newest addition to the aquarium! She’s quite friendly too! Would you guys like to meet her?” The lady asked as Shiro and Adam appeared behind the boys. Honestly, Adam really wanted to see what the new addition was. He loved sea creatures. 

“Can we Shiro?” 

“Please Shiro,” Keith pleaded, giving Shiro the biggest puppy eyes he had ever seen. Shiro wasn’t going to say no in the first place. Usually, when they go places, Lance gets offered to be on some sappy cancer commercial or becomes some organizations little charity case so Shiro overall just likes to avoid things that make Lance’s condition look like the front of a Peoples magazine. But this time, it was just a kind gesture. 

“Please Shiro,” Shiro turned to look at Adam, who was giving him the fakest pout ever. His bottom lip looked like it might fall off if he stuck it out anymore. He could hear Allura chuckling from behind him. 

“Well alright. Let’s go meet the new addition.”

“YAY!” They shouted as the lady led them back through the aquarium and through a door that said Staff Only. Lance was bouncing in place and naming off all the sea creatures he could remember from the book Shay and him would read. He kept talking about a Nudibranch. What the hell is a Nudibranch?

Keith’s eyes were glued to Lance the whole time. Keith sometimes looked at Lance like he was a freshly squeezed glass of lemonade after mowing the lawn in ninety-degree heat. Needless to say, Keith liked to pay attention to whatever Lance was saying. He wants to get to be a better boyfriend. Allura had told Shiro over the phone one time that Keith had begged her to get him anger management classes because he didn’t want to hurt Lance’s feelings again. 

Long story short, Keith is a lot better with his anger. 

Adam intertwined his fingers with Shiro’s and leaned into his side a bit more. Shiro pecked a kiss to the top of Adam’s coconut scented hair before looking back at Allura, who had been recording the adorableness. She had taken up the art of scrapbooking all of Keith and Lance’s adventures so she could show them in the future how they were such good boyfriends. Plus now she can make one for Shiro and Adam. 

They had now reached an open area with pools lining the walls and tubes shooting water into tanks. There were bright luminescent fish and huge tanks taller then Shiro’s house (it’s only one story so that would make sense). “Look! There’s a Dory fish!” Keith had shouted, pointing at the large tank with a swarm of blue and yellow fish decorating the inside. 

“That’s correct! Do you know what it’s real name is?”

“Paracanthurus hepatus,” Lance said as he stared at the tank with wide eyes and a gentle smile. The lady looked shocked and quite impressed. She probably didn’t expect anyone to actually know the answer to that much less a six-year-old kid. 

“W-wow. I didn’t think you would actually know that” She replied, still stunned at the confidence in Lance’s voice when he named the fish by its real name. She was probably just as shocked when he was able to properly pronounce the fishes name correctly. “Anyway, Shella is just around the corner. Let's go see her, shall we?”

The group was led, like the lady said, around the corner and over to a small pool in the corner of the larger room. Keith climbed up on the stool and helped Lance up onto the one beside him. Keith’s tiny hand grasped Lance’s frail one and in one small tug, Lance was standing beside Keith on the stool. They peered into the pool and Lance gasped. 

“SHIRO SHIRO! IT'S-A SEA TURTLE! IT'S-A SEA TURTLE!” 

“Wow, Lance! That’s amazing!” 

“She’s so pretty,” The three adults had gathered around the pool to see the creature inside while the staff member smiled at the group. She smiled because she made those little boys smile. Even the adults were smiling. She didn’t know them but she knew they deserved this. 

“Lance look at the way she swims,” Adam pointed out. He loved see Lance’s eyes fill with love and creativity and curiosity. Adam has gotten accustomed to watching Lance’s eyes fill with tears and hurt. It makes his heart melt when Lance so much as smiles. 

After about twenty minutes of looking at Sheila the sea turtle, the group left to go to the lion exhibit, which was quite the walk. Somehow Lance managed to get there but once they got there he sat down heavily on the bench. “Are you okay Lance?” Keith asked, worry embedded on his face as he sat down beside the brunette. Shiro’s gaze went from the lions over to Lance in a heartbeat. 

“Hey bud. I think your a little worn out right now,” Shiro said as he squatted in front of Lance, who was busy rubbing his eye with the hand that wasn’t holding onto Keith’s. Keith hugged the tired boy. Lance didn’t fight it. He just nuzzled into the hug and let out an exasperated sigh. 

“Keith you’re warm,” Lance said as Keith patted his back, not really sure of what was going on. 

“Shiro? Is Lance alright?” Lance heard Allura ask. He heard foot steps and worried muffles from Keith. 

“He’s fine. I think he’s just exhausted from all the walking,” Adam said as he approached Lance and Keith. Keith looked at Adam with stormy eyes clouded with worry. Adam just smiled. “Don’t worry Keith. He’s just really tired.”

Finally, Keith seemed content with that answer and he let Lance out of his warm hug. Lance’s eyelids began to recede and his ocean blue eyes began to look more like troubled water. “I think it’s time to go home bud. Your starting to fall asleep,” Shiro said shaking Lance a bit on the shoulder to wake him up a bit. Lance just nodded. He didn’t want to go home yet. He wanted to stay and see the hippos with Keith. Of course, Keith would understand why he was tired and why he needed to go home. But he wished he didn’t get so tired. He wished he wasn’t so sick anymore. 

But for now, all he could do is nod. 

“I’ll see you soon Lance,” Keith said, trying to sound positive, but disappointment leaked through his voice like a water breaking through broken glass. He pressed a kiss to Lance’s temple before hopping off the bench and joined Allura. He grabbed her hand and looked back as they walked away. 

Lance felt like he could cry but he didn’t exactly have the energy to do so. He just let himself be carried back to the car by Shiro and ignored all the sympathetic looks he was getting from total strangers. Adam knew Lance didn’t want to leave, but Lance’s body had other plans. Lance was pretty much zonked out by the time they made it back to the car. Shiro put him in his seat, took his nasal tubes out of his nose and replaced it with a normal breathing mask. Meanwhile, Adam got the car started and got himself settled into the passengers' seat. 

“Well I would say today was a success,” Adam said to Shiro once he got settled in the front and got the AC blasting. 

“Yeah me too. Up until the very end he was doing really good.”

“I agree. This tiredness should wear off once he gets off BMT and such,” Shiro thought about that statement for a little while. 

“When will he be off BMT?” Adam looked at Shiro with his bronze eyes filled uncertainty and hope. It was a weird combination but it made Shiro feel reassured. With a quick peck on the cheek each, the family got set back on the road. 

The road of uncertainty and hopefulness.


	2. Of Uncertainty and Rath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is on a new medicine with some difficult side effects. 
> 
> How will Adam and Shiro handle the new adjustments?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. 
> 
> Just have this...

Mornings have been particularly difficult for Lance lately. Well, difficult only begins to describe it honestly. 

 

Shiro started taking college courses at one of the local community colleges, but he leaves in the morning and isn’t home until later in the afternoon. Lance isn’t up by the time Shiro leaves, which makes it even more difficult for him. Lance worries Marcus is going to come after Shiro. He worries Marcus will hurt Shiro or even worse. The thought scares him half to death. 

 

To add to that situation, mornings after Lance gets his medicine are just that much harder. Shiro has classes every Tuesdays and Saturdays, plus the extra classes that he takes to speed up his education. His extra classes fall on Sundays or Thursdays. Today, Sunday happens to be another day where Shiro finds himself in a boring classroom, learning about the story behind his professors latest breakup. He definitely prefers this over the Coke-a-Cola job (he quit by the way).

 

Adam stays at home with Lance on those days. Shiro trusts Adam the most when it comes to dealing with Lance after his BMTs. Adam deals with screaming kids and tumors twice the size of golf balls every day of the week (except Fridays, he gets Fridays off). Shiro has found Adam is more than helpful when it comes to finding someone to say home with Lance on the weekends when he needs it. Plus Adam has now 100% moved into Shiro’s house now, which he couldn’t be more grateful for. He loves waking up to Adam’s bedhead and morning breath. It makes life all while worth living. And the fact he’s got a son that he loves beyond limits. 

 

Today Shiro left the house at about 10:30, his usual timing. 

 

“Alright, hun. I’ll see you around two,” Shiro said, diving every which direction in order to grab duffle bags and computer cases galore. “And if I’m lucky, Professor Jacky will let us out early so she can go make out with the janitor again.”

 

Adam wrapped his arms around Shiro’s neck and pecked him on the lips, lingering a little longer than expected. Shiro’s hands were snaked around Adam’s slim waist, holding him closer, trapping him from his boyfriends escape. “Takashi, you’re going to be late,” Adam snickered. “I don’t want you to get failed if you keep showing up late.”

 

“I know, I know. It’s just… leaving is hard,” He huffed, pouting a little at the thought of what Lance’s body might have in store for him today. Adam sighed. 

 

“The sooner you get there, the sooner you can get back home. So try and have fun,” Adam whispered hopefully, combing his fingers through Shiro’s little white tuft of hair. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

 

After another five minutes of persuading and kissing, Adam finally managed to get  Shiro’s butt out the door and into his car. Who knew he would have to physically pick him up and put him in his car? For as jacked as Shiro was, he was surprisingly easy to carry. 

 

Adam spent the majority of the morning reading the newspaper because for some reason Shiro still gets the newspaper and binge-watching Parks and Rec for the third time this year. He specifically likes just chilling in comfy sweatpants and one of Shiro’s classic rock t-shirts just to rewatch season five. He checks on Lance at the end of each episode just to make sure he’s okay and breathing. He should be breathing anyway seen as he has a breathing mask on. 

 

After Lance gets his medicine, he tends to sleep for like sixteen hours before being woken up by a coughing fit or the sudden urge to vomit. Until then he sleeps. But just because he’s asleep doesn’t mean it’s peaceful. His eyes furrow up in pain and he wheezes even with the breathing assistant on. He whimpers in his sleep from either a nightmare or an uncomfortable pang of pain in his lungs. Sometimes he even cries. And each time it breaks both the hearts of Adam and Shiro. 

 

Last night Lance had gotten another dose of his BMT and it wasn’t as easy as usual. The last scans they had gotten back showed signs of Lance’s progression getting faster. So Adam proscribed that Lance should be switched over to a BMT with less of an effect at the start, meaning the pain during the BMT would be lessened. Adam had told Shiro after Lance was asleep that the side effects wouldn’t kick in until around eighteen hours later. But the side effects were just as more painful. 

 

Adam explained that because it was being given in such a smaller dose than usual, Lance’s body would react the way it would with the normal amount of BMT in his system, only more violent. This causes a reaction of extreme abdominal pain, vomiting, headaches, bloody noses and mild fevers. Shiro understood that Adam was only doing what was best for Lance. He knew it hurt Adam when Lance was in pain. But more than anything, he trusts Adam to make Lance better. And usually, through pain we find happiness. Adam had told Shiro that after one of Lance’s more difficult chemos. 

 

Adam had just gotten to the end of episode six of season five when he stood up to go check on Lance. He creaked open the door and peered inside towards the bed in the corner. Lance’s eyes were half-lidded and his eyebrows were furrowed together, signifying he was awake but in pain. “Hey buddy,” Adam whispered as he slid inside the cool room. “How are you feeling?” 

 

Lance just shrugged. 

 

“Do you want me to take your mask off?” Adam asked, rubbing circles on Lance’s sweat drenched back.  _ “Fever. Check.”  _ After Adam mentally marked that off his checklist of side effects he took off the big uncomfortable breathing mask and replaced it with a nasal tube, which was probably equally as uncomfortable. Adam took in the brunette's features and made a list. 

 

Fever flushed cheeks contrasted with his pale face as beads of sweat dripped down and burned his dull eyes. Adam doesn’t remember the last time his bright blue eyes had ever been so dull and glassy. He was visibly shaking like a leave in the wind. His arms were holding his midsection along with his stomach. Probably cramps. “Does your stomach hurt?” This time Lance nodded. “Okay, buddy. How about we go to the living room? We can watch some TV or you can try and sleep a little more if you want,” Adam suggested as he continued to rub Lance’s back. Lance reached for Adam, who gladly picked him up and carried him to the living room, the oxygen tank dragging behind them. 

 

He set Lance on the couch while he gathered some supplies for the long day ahead of them. Lance curled in on himself, trying desperately to go back to sleep. He wanted to sleep and wake up and not be sick anymore. But he knew better than to wish for something that wouldn’t happen. He would need to work to get better. He also knew he didn’t have to do it alone. 

 

Adam came back with a pile of old towels, a plastic waste bin, and a heating pad. In his experience of being a doctor, he learned that heat helps ease nausea and stomach cramps. That doesn’t mean Lance’s nausea would go away completely but it should help. He began to set towels around, under and on the floor beside Lance. It’s not that Adam didn’t trust Lance to make it to the trash can but he really didn’t feel like cleaning up vomit. So he tried to avoid all circumstances where he would need to. 

 

Once that was evaluated, Adam plugged in the heating pad and set the heat to low. He placed it on Lance’s stomach region and watched Lance’s shaking begin to seize slightly due to the heat. He hoped the cramps would fade eventually and give the poor kid a break. Adam sat down beside the boy and moved his head so it was rested on Adam’s thigh. Adam carded his fingers through Lance’s sweaty brunette locks. 

 

“Do you want to watch a movie? It might make you feel better,” Lance nodded. “What do you want to watch bud?” Adam asked reaching for the remote that sat on the coffee table beside the couch. 

 

“The Lion King,” Lance mumbled. He would probably be out like a light in fifteen minutes anyway but there was a chance that his stomach might not let that happen. Adam will probably still end up keeping the movie on in case Lance would wake up from his nap. 

 

The movie started and it was quick to distract Lance from the pain in his stomach, but it didn’t go away completely. He still whimpered and sniffled, but for the most part, he was silent. Adam continued to card his fingers through Lance’s hair and stared blankly at the television that was projecting the scene of animated safari animals as they danced in circles. He too sips of his coffee and sometimes picked up his phone to see if he had received any notifications (or texts from Shiro). 

 

Around three quarters through the movie, Adam felt the boy, whose head was positioned in his lap, begin to shake. Adam peered down at him, feeling a bit utterly shocked to see tears cascading down Lance’s fever tinted cheeks. His face had taken on a slight green tone since the last time he had glanced down at the boy. Adam feared this would be where Lance loses all of what was collected in his stomach over the past two days or so. 

 

Adam wiped the tears from Lance’s cheek and the other boy clutched the blue blanket in his shakey mocha hands. “What’s up bud? Do you feel like you might get sick?” Lance shook a bit harder at that mention of the word  _ sick _ . He let out a bit of a wobbly sob and nodded as Adam carefully hoisted him up so the brunette's head was rested against his chest. Adam struggled to grab the bucket that he had placed beside them, seeing as he had stupidly placed it on the other side of the  _ frickin couch! _ He just managed to grab it before hearing Lance whimper out his name. 

 

“Adda?” 

 

“It’s alright bud. You’re doing great. You’ll be okay,” Adam reassured, guiding the bucket under Lance’s chin. He kept a steady hand around Lance, keeping him upright, and another firmly holding the bucket in front of his face. Lance’s breath picked up and heaves began to overtake his body. In times like this, every internal organ except his brain seems to abandon him, only to cause him more pain than before. Finally, Lance was able to work something out of his system, but the cost was unruly. Tears streamed down his face as he retched into the bucket, only being able to breathe for a second before his face was back in the bucket. 

 

After Lance’s ten-minute vomit spell was over, he collapsed against Adam’s chest, tears bursting from his empty blue eyes. “Shhh, it’s alright buddy. It’s over for now. Deep breaths now, okay?” Adam knew his reassurances would fall to defeat, but he tried so hard to help Lance forget the pain and agony of this sickness. This most likely wouldn’t be the only time that Lance’s body would give into vomiting as an alternative option to relieving the pent-up stress of the medicine’s side effects. 

 

Lance began to take deep breaths, thanks to Adam’s constant support and coaching. He had been now clutching Adam’s shirt, which by some miracle wasn’t covered in bile, and crying silently. Lance tends to need more time to recover after the strain that vomiting takes on his body. Adam continued to whisper hopeful reassurances until Lance fell into a restless sleep. At that, Adam stood up with Lance in his arms only to put him back on the couch. He covered the shaking boy with one of his favorite blankets and pressed a kiss on his sweaty forehead. Then Adam picked up the soiled bucket he had placed on the ground during all the excitement of the earlier events and rinsed it out using the hose in the backyard. 

 

He came back inside with a clean bucket and quietly placed it on the opposite side of the couch to avoid waking Lance. He had a trash can beside him, so if he  _ really  _ had to get sick, at least he has a trash can in case he can’t get to the bucket in time. Adam longingly glanced at the clock on the oven. 

 

It read 1:27 pm. 

 

Adam internally groaned. It’s not that he didn’t like staying at home with Lance. It’s not that at all. He loves Lance. But it breaks his heart everytime Lance goes through something like this. Every time he is in pain. Every time his eyes fill with the uncertainty, yet total trust. Sometimes Adam needs Shiro to know that everything will be alright. Sometimes Adam needs to be told everything will work out. Sometimes he needs someone else to tell him this because he can’t tell himself. 

 

As time ticked by, Lance had woken up a total of three times, getting sick each time. Around 3:15, Shiro came bustling through the front door. He somehow managed not to wake up the sleeping lump on the couch despite accidentally dropping all his bags and his plastic water bottle. Adam had spun around from his place on the couch and let out a “SHHH!”, which scared Shiro half to death. 

 

“Hey, how’s he feeling?”

 

“Well… he got sick a few times and about five minutes ago he woke up and thought he was going to be sick, but nothing came up,” Adam stated as Shiro kneeled in front of Lance’s face. “He’s got nothing left in his system so I think we’re in the clear for now.” 

 

Shiro nodded as he stroked Lance’s fever-ridden cheeks. Lance’s eyes fluttered open. “Hey, buddy. I’m home.”

 

“I don’t feel good Shiro,” Lance whimpered, tears building up in his dull glassy eyes. 

 

“Do you want me to turn up the heat on the heating pad?” Adam asked, stroking the bottoms of Lance’s feet. It tends to bring comfort to the boy. 

 

Lance nodded as tears fell down his cheeks and stained the couch cushion. 

 

Adam adjusted the heat setting while Shiro grabbed the box of tissues off the coffee table. He wiped Lance’s tears and snot off his face, a pang of sympathy growing in his heart for his poor son. Lance was the light of his life and seeing him in so much pain makes Shiro’s whole world feel empty, with the exception of Adam that is. 

 

Shiro sadly sighed. “Try and get some sleep bud. You’ll feel better when you wake up.”

 

“Shiro?”

 

“Yeah, buddy?” 

 

“Will I get better soon?” 

 

The question was like a knife through Shiro’s heart. Adam’s too. They knew he would be better. He was going to recover from this and he will be a normal kid again. The scans already show he’s getting better. Lance will be okay. 

 

“Yeah,” Shiro whispered, taking Lance’s smaller hand and stroking small circles on it. “Very soon. Just keep fighting, okay? No matter what, just keep fighting.”

 

Lance nodded and fell asleep after he had gotten the answer. Shiro was visibly shaken to the core. He let go of Lance’s hand and put it over his mouth, attempting to silence a sob. Adam was up in an instant and at Shiro’s side. He collected Shiro in his arms, pulling him into a tight embrace while the other bawled into Adam’s chest. “Shhh, Takashi, my love. It’s okay, everything will be alright.”

 

“What if it’s not Adam!” Shiro sobbed out, wrapping his fists around Adam’s shirt. Adam didn’t really know what to say to that. He knew Lance would be okay. The scans showed signs of improvement. Adam rubbed circles on Shiro’s back. 

 

“It will be. I know it’s tough to see Lance like this but trust me, he’s gonna be okay,” Adam whispered, squeezing the little clump of Shiro in his arms. Shiro sniffled but nodded against Adam’s chest. “Would you be okay if I made you some tea? Just the way you like it.”

 

“Yeah, that’d be great actually,” Shiro said, voice raspy from crying but firm enough to conform he was alright. The two pulled apart and stood, hand and hand. They walked over the kitchenette where they prepared their drinks and then sat at the kitchen table behind the couch so they could keep an eye on Lance. 

 

“I love you so much Adam,” Shiro said, his blood shot and love struck eyes casted over Adam, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table. A smug grin gew on Adam’s face. 

 

“As do I, Takashi. As do I.”

 

And like that, the two knew that though their future was of uncertainty, they would be okay in the end. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry fucking Christmas!


	3. Make a Wish Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today is a special day for Lance. 
> 
> He doesn't know that yet but it is. With the help of the Make-A-Wish foundation, strangers help strangers to make Lance a day he will never forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOP! I'm back cuz I was gone for like a week. I was sick and stuff. For. A. Whole. Damn. Week...
> 
> So anyway this was lazy and stuff so I hope there aren't too many mistakes. If there are, don't comment about them cuz I'm getting quite a bit of hate as it is. 
> 
> Also, this was a request? Suggestion? Something like that. But I thought It was super cute so I decided to turn it into one of the chapters of Almost There. 
> 
> Enjoy!

It had been five days since Lance had gotten his medicine and he had, for the most part, he’s recovered. He’s still a little tired and sluggish, not to mention the blandness in his diet. Better to say he’s been in worse shape. He stopped throwing up and he didn’t get stomach cramps anymore. His headache was now dull pounding in his skull and his fever was gone. 

 

Needless to say, Lance was getting better on the recovery scale. 

 

And as if things couldn’t have been getting any better for him, Adam had some very special news for him as well. They were all seated around the kitchen table, Shiro sipping tea while Adam was making his signature pancakes. Lance had just finished his second piece of toast when Adam brought a stack of fluffy pancakes over to the table. “How on Earth do you manage to make such perfect pancakes?” Shiro asked before taking his fourth pancake from the stack of fluffy steaming greatness. 

 

“Takashi, baby. It’s an old family recipe,” Adam said with a smirk and sent him a little wink. Shiro would have probably caught it if he wasn’t busy stuffing his face. It really wasn’t. It was instant pancake batter from the grocery store but Adam just added extra flour to make them fluffier. Somehow Shiro never notices the big yellow box of dry pancake batter out on the counter when he comes into the kitchen while Adam makes pancakes. 

 

Lance pouted. “I kinda wish I could eat pancakes,” he said, longingly staring at the stacks of goodness with his chin rested on his hand. Lance couldn’t remember the last time he ever had a pancake. He never got them when he was younger for obvious reasons. Marcus always told him he was worth what he was eating. Sometimes Lance was worth nothing to him and sometimes he was worth a piece of bread from an old sandwich. His best and sometimes only meals were from the daycare. 

 

Shiro huffed out a sad chuckle. He knew how much Lance just wanted to be a normal kid. A kid that wasn’t constantly put on live changing medicines. A kid who wasn’t constantly in and out of the hospital because they have a tumor in their lung. He just wants to be a normal kid. 

 

“Hey, bud. Look on the bright side. You’re gonna be all better soon,” Shiro’s voice was strong but his eyes faltered. “And when you’re all better, you can eat all the pancakes you want,” Lance smiled and giggled, hopping off the chair. He sped over to Shiro on the other side of the table, who bent down to give him a hug. “Come on. You’re still little enough to sit on my lap,” Shiro laughed as he heaved the small brunette into his lap, which received another round of giggles from Lance. Shiro blew raspberries on his son's cheeks once again receiving a shriek of laughter from Lance. 

 

Adam watched his boys from the small kitchenette as he cleaned up the dishes that he dirtied while making the pancakes. He smiled. Adam loves to see them laugh. They were put through hell together and seeing them smile makes warmth spread through his whole chest. It almost brings tears to his eyes. Adam has seen Lance at his worst and Shiro at what Adam thinks is his worst, but he’s sure Shiro could do worse if he really needed to. But Adam doesn’t think that he’ll ever need to see that side of his boyfriend. 

 

“Shiro! If you -HAHAHA- don’t stop -HAHAHA- your pancake will -Heh- get cold!” Lance was just barely able to get out. Shiro laughed and stopped torturing Lance before the Cuban ran out of breath. Then he would really be in trouble. Instead, he pressed a chaste kiss to Lance’s temple before moving the boy off his lap and onto the chair next to him. 

 

“Yeah, buddy. I guess you’re right.”

 

“I am! And,” Lance bent over to whisper to Shiro. “Adam might get mad if you waste any of his pancakes.”

 

Both Adam and Shiro roared with laughter. Lance didn’t know what was so funny. He looked more concerned than anything. “What’s so funny?” 

 

Adam was the first to recover from the laughing fit. “Well… I could never stay mad at him  _ forever _ . I might ban him from eating any more of my pancakes for a while but-”

 

“NO! Babe, please don’t ban me from eating your pancakes! Please, I’ll do anything!” 

 

“Then don’t waste the pancake, Takashi!” Adam exclaimed, pointing a clean spatula at Shiro from where he was standing in the kitchen. 

 

Lance cackled. “Ohhhhhh! Shiro got it trouble,” Lance mocked as Shiro smiled and rolled his eyes before stuffing his face with the now-room-temperature pancake. Somehow they still tasted like a little slice of heaven. 

 

Shiro was so grateful for these mornings where he didn’t have to wake up Lance coughing and crying and screaming that he couldn’t breathe. He wants to wake up to mornings like this every morning. 

 

He wants it so badly.

  
  


“Hey, Takashi?” Adam asked as he shuffled through the mail they had just received and some that they had forgotten about. He was eager to tell him that the Make-A-Wish foundation approved their request. This was kind of a huge deal for them. 

 

“Yeeeesss dearest?” Shiro called from down the master bedroom down the hall. 

 

Adam walked down the navy hallway and stood in the doorframe of their bedroom. “We got that Make-A-Wish request approved. All we have to do is clear our schedules for this weekend,” he said matter of factly. Shiro spun his attention away from the shirt he was folding and up at the smirking weirdo standing in his door frame. Adam laughed at Shiro’s dumbfounded face. Typical mouth hanging open and wide stormy eyes. 

 

“Seriously!” 

 

“Yes seriously,” Adam giggled. Next thing you know, Shiro had dashed around the other side of the bed and enveloped Adam in the ‘happy boyfriend’ hug, which Adam gladly returned. 

 

“I’m so excited! Lance is going to flip when he hears what they prepared for him. Oh my god! Keith's coming, right? We added the plus one to the list right-,” Adam grabbed Shiro by the back of his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. It lasted for seconds before Adam pulled away. 

 

“Would you shut up? They took care of everything. Everything will be perfect.”

 

“Yeah, I know but,” Shiro looked over to the window where he could see the last bit of light just barely spilling into the room. “What if something goes wrong?”

 

“What if something doesn’t? What if everything goes according to the plan? What if Lance has the time of his life and forgets he’s sick for even a second?” Adam had always been good at convincing Shiro’s thoughts otherwise. 

 

Shiro sighed. “I guess you’re right.  _ Nothing _ will happen.  _ Everything _ will be okay.”

 

“Good! I finally worked my way into your negative thoughts and kicked them halfway to the moon,” Adam remarked with a smug grin. “Now, if you'll excuse me,  _ I  _ have to go see if you burnt those brownies you put in over an hour ago,” Adam knew Shiro was making brownies but with all the chores that man tries to complete, he only assumed Shiro would forget to set a timer and the oven would go up in flames due to the wrath of flaming brownies. 

 

“Oh shi-,” Shiro escaped the warm embrace of his boyfriend and made a mad dash towards the kitchen, his bare feet slapping against the cool tile floor. 

 

“Adda?” A tiny head poked out of the doorway to Lance’s room. 

 

“Hey, hun. What’s up?” Adam asked as he approached Lance. 

 

“Why was Shiro running so fast? He could have slipped,” Lance asked, genuinely concerned for Shiro’s well being. 

 

“He left the brownies in again.”

 

Lance laughed, walking over to Adam and grabbing ahold of his hand. At this point, Adam was just as much his dad as Shiro was. “Shiro’s not very good at baking, is he?”

 

Adam giggled and shook his head. “Nope. But he’s good at everything else.”

  
  


Today's’ the day. Today’s the day Lance’s wish comes true. 

 

Shiro woke up at the crack of dawn to start packing the car and Adam woke up ten minutes later to wake Lance up. Shiro managed to stuff everything in the car without waking up the whole neighborhood. Usually when he gets up at 4:46 in the morning, Shiro clumsily slams every door and drops every metal object in his possession, resulting in the waking of anything within a two-mile radius. 

 

“Lancey Lance,” Adam whispered, smoothing the hair out of Lance’s face. The boy stirred and opened his eyes. “Hey buddy, we gotta get up early today.”

 

“Hmmmm Why?” Lance grunted, sitting up, trying to rub the sleep from his forlorn eyes. Adam picked Lance up into his arms and made their way out to the car where Shiro was waiting. Adam opened the door with one hand while he kept Lance securely tucked in the other. 

 

“Because today is gonna be really special,” Adam added, setting Lance down in the car seat as gently as he could. The boy was already asleep in the chair. Adam stifled a giggle and climbed in the passenger seat next to Shiro. “You’re not going to fall asleep while driving, are you?” 

 

“Heh, I probably won’t,” Shiro appointed as he pulled a bottle of  _ Five Hour Energy  _ out of his pocket. He knew Adam would lecture him about how terrible it is for his body and would rant about how many chemicals are in one bottle.

 

The drive began slow and quiet, despite Lance’s soft snores filled the interior of the car and Adam’s occasional yawns. Adam was determined to stay awake along with Shiro so it would be fair between the two of them, but Shiro knew the older brunette would soon be fast asleep. “Babeeeee, go to sleeeep,” Shiro whined as he watched Adam stifle yet another yawn. “You look exhausted. Just take a nap for a little.”

 

“But I don’t want to sleep if you can’t sleep. That’s not fair to you.”

 

Shiro scoffed. “Do you want me to pull over so we can cuddle in the back seat?” 

 

Adam rolled his eyes, only to find himself feeling even sleepier. “No, I guess I will take a small snooze BUT only for a half hour. Then you have to wake me up.”

 

“Okay, hun. Just go to sleep,” Adam didn’t need to be told twice. He pushed a button on the side of his chair as it dropped back, being careful not to squish the sleeping child behind him. The chairs were heated but in the summer it just got plain annoying. 

 

“Mmmmm, goodnight.”

 

“It’s the morning but whatever genius,” And like that, the two brunettes were fast asleep until the timing of their trip would wake them. 

  
  


Shiro let Adam sleep the rest of the trip. Not only because he was a good boyfriend but also because Adam had been up since 12:30 exchanging emails with the Make-A-Wish foundation to make sure everything was perfect for today. Plus the poor guy didn’t fall asleep until he knew everything would be perfect. 

 

And Shiro also knew eyebags look good on no one. But Adam could probably pull it off anyhow. 

 

“Baby, wake up,” Shiro whispered as he lightly shook Adam. Mocha eyelids pulled back to reveal Adam’s bronze eye. “We’re here.”

 

“You let me sleep the rest of the trip!” 

 

Shiro smiled. “Yes. Now, aren’t you glad you have a kind boyfriend who cares about your sleep schedules?”

 

Adam rolled his eyes. “Thank you…” 

 

Shiro parked the car in the parking lot of the big blue building called  _ Altea Marine Institute. _ He knew he was in the right spot when he saw the Make-A-Wish truck out in front of the main entrance. He also wondered how a vehicle of  _ that  _ size was legally allowed on the roads. Like it was  _ massive _ . 

 

“This must be the place!” Adam assured himself as he heard a soft groan from the seat behind him. Both Shiro and Adam looked over their seats to see a groggy little Lance awakening from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes at the sudden amount of sunlight, waiting patiently for his eyes to adjust to his surroundings. Once he was able to see everything more or less clearer, he noticed to two sets of eyes upon him. 

 

Shiro smiled at Lance’s bed-head. “Hey, buddy. Do you know where we are?” Lance shook his head and looked out the window at the building. “Okay good. It’s a surprise.”

 

Together they entered the building and were greeted by many familiar faces.  Lance’s eyes went wide and his smile, for the first time a while, reached his ears. Keith, who was standing beside Allura, waved and shouted, “Hey Lance!”

 

“Keith!” Lance made a mad bolt for his boyfriend, who already had his arms wide open. They collided in the softest hug, receiving awes and laughter from most of the people around them. Lance felt Keith pull back a little, leaving Lance hanging. But not for long when Keith, almost ten seconds later, pressed a kiss on his nose. 

 

“Don’t I get a hug too?” Lance turned around to see Shay standing beside Shiro and Adam, wearing her traditional smile and crossed arms. 

 

“Shay!” Lance laughed as he ran to be engulfed in her hug.

 

“Hey, buddy! Heard you’re getting better,” She said, bending down to press a kiss on his forehead. Shay had seen Lance at his worse and at his best. She was glad to see he was healthy enough to be up and about, even with the oxygen tank. Plus Shiro told her over a FaceTime call once that he used to bring home stickers from the Coke factory and give them to Lance. They always end up on his oxygen tank. Lance doesn’t even like Coke! He just likes the colors of the stickers, the reds, and the blacks, and the blues. 

 

“What are you doing here Shay?” Lance exclaimed. “What is everyone else doing here?” 

 

“We came to surprise you!” Keith said, walking over to Lance and Shay and taking Lance’s hand within his own. Keith recognized Shay from the hospital when he went to visit Lance in the hospital. He remembers one time he visited before another one of Lance’s chemos. Lance was near tears, as was Shiro. Shay came into the room with a blue ukulele and a strong smile. Keith remembers holding Lance in a hug while Shay sang. Tension slipped out of the room as fast as it came in. 

 

Then Lance was off to a separate room after short goodbyes from everyone were said. 

 

“Why, hello there Keith! How have you been?” Shay asked, crouched in front of the two six-year-olds. 

 

“AWESOME! Lance and I are going to have so much fun today!”

 

“Uh, Keith?” Lance asked, tugging at Keith’s hand a little. “What are we doing today?”

 

Another voice came from behind them. “Glad you asked Lance.”

 

Lance knew that voice anywhere. Spinning around to confirm what he was hearing, he saw another familiar face. “Lotor!”

 

“Hey, little guy! How has the Lance-Man been?” 

 

Lance came waddling over to Lotor while Keith followed, being careful not to step on the back wheel of the oxygen tank. Lotor still saw Lance every month for his therapy appointments, but honestly, he missed the little guy who blabbered on about sea creature and Keith. 

 

The three talked for a while a group of volunteers in Make-A-Wish t-shirts came filing through the automatic doors. They carried boxes and cameras and what looked like a wedding altar? Shiro watched them quietly shove everyone and everything into a room on the opposite side of the receptionist’s desk. A tall lady, maybe late thirties, early forties, came bouncing over to the group. “Hellooooo folks! I’m looking for an Adam West. Anybody seen him?” 

 

Adam stepped forward with a smile plastered to his perfect face. “That would be me.”

 

“Great! I’m Mandy and I just wanted to go over the plans for today.” 

 

“Oh! Awesome,” Adam turned back to Shiro, who looked lost. Adam doesn’t think he knows what he’s supposed to be doing. “Come on Shiro. You need to know the agenda for today as well,” Adam said with a smile, holding out a hand to his boyfriend. Shiro grinned and grabbed ahold of Adam’s slim hand, joining him next to Mandy. 

 

“Okay, so we have down swimming with sharks at 11, swimming with dolphins at 12, Cuban style lunch at 1 and-,” Mandy beamed at the last request. “The wedding for Lance and Keith from 2:30 to 4:45. Of course, we  _ legally  _ can’t marry them but you get the gist,”

 

“Yeah, that would be all I had in the email,” Adam said, sounding shocked that they were able to do all of this just for Lance. Just for them. 

 

“Alrighty then! We can get rolling in about fifteen minutes. If you want, you guys can fill out this form for your t-shirts,” She said, handing Adam and Shiro a clipboard. “And of course, this event is free of charge. We just want to give Lance a good time.”

 

Shiro couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This event, that was costing a non-profit organization thousands of dollars, was free of charge for them. Shiro knew he didn’t deserve these kinds of people in his life. People like Adam. People like Shay and Mandy. People like Lance. 

 

“Thank you so much Mandy,” Adam gushed, voice steady but eyes holding more graciousness than anyone in the room. Today was going to be a good day. Today Lance can forget he’s sick and he can live like a normal kid. 

  
  


Today would give them hope. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... It's a disaster but here. FLUFF
> 
> Also, I assume that if you are reading this on Christmas, you are either avoiding awkward interactions with family or you are spending your holiday's alone (like me). 
> 
> OOF. 
> 
> Emo chic is off her game. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and happy holidays!


	4. Uncertainty will kill a man before anything else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a trip to the local grocery store results in the downfall of Lance's health, what can Shiro and Adam do before it's too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry this was late. When I say late, sorry this was A WEEK LATE.
> 
> YEah,,,,,, I had to deal with some shit but im back. 
> 
> And this chapter might ruin you.

The Make-A-Wish event was successful but exhausting. 

 

Lance could barely keep his eyes open long enough to say goodbye to everyone who had come out to see him. Shiro ended up carrying him back to the car, dragging the oxygen tank behind him. Keith was even wiped! That kid has endless energy if you give him enough dulce de leche but by the end, he was almost as tired as Lance. 

 

Shiro ended up driving home for Adam’s sake. Once both the brunettes were settled in the car, it was pretty much lights out for the both of them. Lance’s soft snores mixed with Adam’s incoherent dream mumbles kept a smile on Shiro’s face, despite the need for sleep threatening to send him over the edge. At one point Adam’s arm twitched, knocking against the watered down iced coffee in the cup holder, tipping it over. If Shiro hadn’t been stopped at a red light and coincidently been staring at Adam, it would be safe to say the majority of the car would be covered in watery coffee.

 

The next day was filled with constant chatter from Lance. 

 

“The sharks were my second favorite part!” He had said on a walk with Adam that morning. They both let Shiro sleep, partially because he needed it and partially because Adam felt guilty for making Shiro drive last night. 

 

“Oh, yeah? What was your  _ favorite  _ part?” Adam asked. He had a good idea of what it could have been but he just wanted to hear Lance say it himself. 

 

Lance blushed and smiled. “Marrying Keith,” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck out of embarrassment. Adam chuckled. Seeing Lance getting flustered was quite adorable. He gets the bashful love eyes and blushy cheeks. Almost like Shiro. 

 

Days past but Lance’s chatter about the event didn’t lessen. He spent the entire Saturday afternoon making cards for everyone who helped make his wish come true. Shiro helped him too by writing out what Lance wanted each card to say since Lance claimed he was “embarrassed” by his handwriting. But Lance doodled on each card and drew a heart on almost everyone. It was as if each card was personalized with a message from the heart. 

 

Especially Keith’s. Keith’s card has several hearts sporadically placed his card, plus a drawing of them on their “wedding day” and a thoughtful (and loving) message. 

 

_ Dear Keith,  _

_ Thank you for being the best husband in the world! I love you so much and I hope we can play Trucks Vs. Bigfoot soon!  _

 

_ Sincerely, _

_ Lance XXX _

 

They even made a huge one for Adam. It was a mess, to say the least. 

 

Every inch of the cover was embarked with multi-colored glitter and bubble letters that had been placed on backward. On the inside of the card, Lance actually wrote his own message to Adam without Shiro’s help. Lance was also really good at spelling and school work in general. Shiro had him enrolled in homeschool right before he was diagnosed with cancer. Safe to say he was better at spelling out words like  _ apple  _ than Keith was. 

 

Next, Shiro wrote his own little-personalized message at the bottom. He felt it was necessary since Adam was his boyfriend and he felt the need to tell Adam how much he appreciates him. 

 

_ Dear Super-Awesome Adam Guy,  _

_ Hey babe, you know you’re eyes are really bronze, right? Like the kind of bronze that lights your soul on fire a million times over. The kind that warms me when the AC cuts out. The kind of bronze that belongs in a medal.  _

_ Would it be acceptable if I try and win that medal?  _

 

_ Love, _

_ Your Awesometastic Boyfriend XOX _

_ (Shiro) _

 

After they cleaned up the paper scraps and excess glitter, Shiro and Lance drove down to the local grocery store to find some special items for Adam. Lance helped Shiro settle on a bouquet for Adam.

 

“I don’t know buddy. These ones are lilac purple  _ BUT  _ Adam really reminds me of a soft burgundy color kinda guy. Adam’s eyes would go perfectly with the roses but the purple scrubs he was wearing this morning would really go well with these periwinkle ones,” Shiro sighed, unable to make a decision. Adam usually doesn’t work on the weekends but he went in for a special training session. 

 

Lance, who was holding Shiro’s hand like he usually did when he went into crowded areas, tugged on his sleeve and pointed up at a particular bouquet in the top shelf. “I think Adam would like that one.”

 

Shiro looked up at the bouquet Lance was pointing at and felt a spark of happiness ignite inside him. The bouquet was an array of rainbow-colored flowers wrapped in a clear, shiny plastic wrap. It was all tied together with pastel ribbons of all colorful sorts. A miniature pride flag was sticking out from among the bunch flowers. Shiro reached up for the bouquet with a toothy grin, standing almost on his tippy toes in order to grab the rainbow madness. 

 

“HAHA, Lance! This is perfect! Oh my gosh, buddy!” Shiro exclaimed, bending down to scoop Lance into his arms, swinging him around a little before setting him back down on the ground and ruffling his hair. “You wanna go find some cookies for him too?”

 

Lance nodded, reaching up for Shiro’s hand once again. Lance looked a little tired and stressed. Public places tended to do that to the kid. The constant fear of Marcus coming back viciously gnawed at him anytime he went anywhere. His nightmares got to him, flashbacks eat away at his sanity and send him into a fear-frozen state. Plus excitement tends to do a number on him. He’s still most likely recovering from his event. 

 

“Are you sleepy Lance?” Shiro asked, placing the bouquet gently in the red basket all while guiding Lance down the baked goods section of the store. He nodded and rubbed his eyes as they approached the cookies. 

 

They ended up picking out rainbow sugar cookies, Adam’s personal favorite. Shiro walked slowly to keep with Lance’s pace, noting that the boy's speed was progressively getting slower. lower. He must be  _ really  _ tired. 

 

Shiro bent down and scooped up his son in his one arm while carrying the basket in the other. Lance buried his head into Shiro’s neck, closing his eyes as his dad carried him smoothly through the aisle and up to the checkout area. An unidentified heat was aroused on Shiro’s collarbone where Lance rested his head. He glanced down at the brunette in his arms, immediately noticing the color of his face had drained slightly and his cheeks were tinted with a fever. 

 

Concern burst through the semes of his mind and leaked into his heart where sympathy and sadness had sparked just moments ago. “Are you feeling alright buddy?” Shiro asked, stopping dead in his tracks and waited for a response from Lance. 

 

Lance hiccuped and closed his watery eyes. “No…”

 

“What hurts bud?” Shiro asked as he resumed walking toward the checkout area. He listened for Lance’s voice as he greeted the cashier and set his basket up on the conveyor belt. She looked up with her green eyes filled with concern and an indescribable look of sympathy. He set Lance down on the tile floor, only to find him clutched to his side, his face pressed into the side of Shiro’s leg and his tiny hand grasping Shiro’s hand in his own. “Lance, can you answer me bud? I want to know what’s wrong so I can help,” Shiro whispered as he knelt down to get eye to eye with the sick child. 

 

Lance sniffled. Tears came rushing down his face as sobbs ripped right through him. “M’stomach aches and my head h-hurts s-so badly and it’s really h-hard to breathe,” He blubbered out. Shiro's heart squeezed inside his chest. His poor baby boy was in so much pain and he dragged him to the store. What a great dad he is.

 

The cashier gave them space by closing the register and finalizing the cost. All four (except the flowers) of their items were placed in one small bag so they wouldn’t be much of a hassle. She watched the poor boy break into nervous sobbs while the taller gentleman scooped him into a hug. “Shhh, buddy it’s alright. I got you, you’re alright,” Shiro hushed, trying to make Lance feel the slightest bit better. He didn’t care if Lance was making a scene or if he was collecting stares from perfect people with perfect lives and perfect health.

 

He didn’t care. He just wanted Lance to feel better. 

 

The cashier waited very patiently for two to quiet and collect themselves. Lance was shivering and sniffling but no longer was he bawling his eyes out. He emitted small wheezing noises from the back of his throat and clutched to Shiro as the elder paid for the items. “Thank you for being so patient with us. He’s just having a rough day.”

 

“Oh don’t worry about it. Here are a couple of extra bags in case this is a viral thing and you decide to take the backroads home.”

 

“Oh thank you so much. Really, you don’t understand how much I appreciate it,” Shiro praises as he rubs Lance’s shaking back. “Though this wouldn’t be the first time he’s puked all over my car. What he has isn’t viral but it’s just as painful.”

 

The cashier looked at Shiro with her mint green eyes filled with compassion and curiosity but she seemed to keep her questions to herself. Lance let out a meek ‘thank you’, which was barely audible to Shiro and the nice cashier lady. 

 

“Oh honey, don’t worry about it. Just focus on getting better, alright?” Shiro felt Lance weakly nod his head against his back. Before they stepped out of line she said one last thing. “And no matter what, just keep fighting.”

 

Shiro didn’t know how she knew but it didn’t matter. He felt a spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, this would all be over soon. 

  
  


“Honey~,” Adam said in a ‘Monica from Friends’ voice. “I’m home~!” 

 

Despite his elaborate entrance, no boyfriend or child came to greet him as he walked through the door. In fact, the whole house looked eerie and abandoned, almost silent aside from the footsteps coming from down the hallway. Shiro appeared in the doorframe, wearing no shirt and a tired and defeated expression. “Hey hun,” Shiro said almost emotionlessly. “Lance and I got you something today. He wanted to give it to you but, he’s-,” There was a long pause leaving Adam on edge. “He’s not feeling too great right now so I’m just gonna give them to you.”

 

“What’s wrong with him?”

 

“We went down to the grocery store to pick up part of your present and all the sudden he came on with a quite a fever. We left soon after that and drove home,” Shiro once again paused to reflect on the recent events. “He threw up on the way back BUT we managed to keep it in a bag this time.”

 

Adam walked over to give Shiro a hug and a big wet kiss on his nose. “How is he feeling now? You said he had a fever. How high was it?”

 

“Ehh. About 100.3, not high enough to be too concerned but enough to be checked on once and awhile. Plus as soon as we got home, I tried carrying him in and he kinda just puked all over my shirt.”

 

Adam grimaced at the thought and the odd substance in the driveway only guessing that was Lance’s mess from earlier. “Poor guy. How is he doing right now?” 

 

“I just got him to fall asleep but he’s pretty miserable,” Shiro said, his hands finding their way to Adam’s waist. Adam snaked his arms around Shiro’s neck and pecked him on the cheek. 

 

“We’ll check on him in a little while. Just to make sure his fever isn’t getting higher and give him some fluids.” 

 

“God, I love it when you get all medical on me,” Shiro laughed out as Adam pulled out of the hug and sat on the dark green couch. 

 

“So you said you had a present for me?” 

—

 

Everything was underwater. 

 

Lance was underwater.

 

The noise was drowning in his ears and his head was swimming in pain. His vision was flooded with tears and beads of sweat poured down his face like a raging river. He felt like there was liquid sloshing around his lungs, sending him into lung seizing coughing fits. His nose leaked like a broken faucet, never-ending in terms of running water. 

 

On the other hand, his throat felt raw and dry. Like someone had thrown sand down his throat, then lit it on fire. With every cough and every hack, his throat burned with an intensity like hellfire. Even retching seemed to make his mouth and throat feel like the desert. He couldn’t drink water, for nothing would stay in his stomach for very long. It quite honestly sucked. 

 

He heard voices from above and freaked out a bit when he thought the angels had come for him. Lance only recognized it was Shiro and Adam after he abruptly woke to the sudden urge to vomit. 

 

He began to panic. He was so weak. He couldn’t sit up or move. Lance could feel bile riding up his throat. “Shiro-,” Lance weakly got out before he covered the majority of his shirt and the bedsheet that was covering him in stomach acid. He had nothing left to throw up after only eating half of a pancake and a glass of orange juice. 

 

“Oh shi-,” Shiro cursed, quickly pulling Lance up in the bed before easing a bucket under his chin just in time to catch some lose bile. “Shhh, buddy it’s okay. Just get it out,” Shiro comforted the boy as another round of retching tore through his body. Lance was shaking and quaking beneath Shiro’s touch. The boy’s head lulled to the side where it was settled against Shiro’s chest. He just hoped Lance wouldn’t be able to hear his heart racing a million miles an hour. 

 

“Adam! Can you come here, please?” Shiro yelled from where he was positioned with the burning boy in his arms. “And can you bring the thermometer again? I left it in the kitchen.”

 

Adam peaked his head in the doorway and a concerned frown grew upon his face. “Sure thing. I’m also going to grab an ice pack. Even with a thermometer, I can tell his fevers gone up.”

 

“Yeah. He’s burning,” Shiro huffed out, stroking Lance’s sweat-stained hair. Lance let out a pained groan followed by a terrible cough. “Okay, I’m setting you back down now bud.”

 

He slowly lowered Lance back into the sheets (the ones not covered in puke) and grabbed a tissue box from the bedside. He wiped the bile from the boy’s chin and neck as Adam entered the room with a few items. The older brunette set the objects on the armchair in the corner of the room before grabbing the small blue thermometer from the stack. Adam sat on the bed beside Lance and stroked the poor boy’s burning cheek. Shiro stripped the soiled shirt off Lance and tore the stained sheets off the bed, quick to replace the shirt with an old plain blue PJ shirt.

 

“Hey, Lance? Can you open your mouth a little for me? I just need to check your temperature,” Adam asked, continuing to stroke Lance’s cheek softly with his thumb. Lance weakly opened his mouth partially so the older male could slip the thermometer into his mouth. Shiro stood up solemnly and left the room to take the ruined sheets to the wash and gather some light blankets from the living room. 

 

Adam watched him leave as the thermometer made a beeping noise. He was honestly scared to look. He glanced down at the blue luminescent numbers and swore he heard his heart stop. 

 

103.8 F.

 

Adam frowned at the blue object in his hand as he stood up and hastily made his way back to the green armchair in the corner where he left the cyan ice pack. He wrapped it in a paper towel and returned to Lance’s side. 

 

“What’s his temperature now?” Shiro asked from the doorway where he had appeared moments ago. He looked on edge and scared. Not a good combination for him at the moment. 

 

Adam sighed sadly. “103.8 F. Almost 104,” Shiro grimaced, his eyes faltering, letting the last bits of hope flow from his body. He was really hoping this was a side effect from the medicine but he hadn’t needed to get it in a month. Plus the medicine never gave him fevers this high. All hope that this was something related to the medicine had vanished leaving pure fear for what this possibly could be. 

 

Adam could see the distress in Shiro’s image. “Takashi, sweetheart. Come here,” Adam cooed, opening his arms, inviting Shiro into his grasp. The simple gesture had Shiro shuffling across the floor and into his boyfriend's arms. Shiro knew he had to be strong for Lance’s sake. So he would wait to break down until he was behind closed doors or in Adam’s arms. 

 

But not today. 

 

He wouldn’t break down now. They were going to get through this.  _ All  _ of this. They were going to get through the illness and the nightmares and the pain. Together, not alone, but together they were going to find piece of mind. And one day, the three of them were gonna be okay. 

 

“I know we will be okay Adam. We have to be,” Shiro mumbled gripping the back of Adam’s shirt and burying his head in the brunette’s neck. He wasn’t crying yet but he needed some closer from his beloved. 

 

“I know sweetheart. We will be okay. We might not be right now but we will be,” Adam said, squeezing Shiro tighter in his hold. 

 

“I promise.”

  
  


_ BEEP BEEP BEEP! _

 

The sound of the thermometer in Lance’s ears brought him back from his  _ almost  _ sleep-like state. He couldn’t find sleep so easily right now. 

 

He was burning and freezing at the same time. His stomach cramped and contracted like it was trying to eat him from the inside out. His eyes were flooded with tears and his cheeks were tattooed with the pathways of the fallen clear salty liquid. His lungs felt like they were on fire. Not just any fire but the kind burned from pure rage and agony. The kind you feel when you lose everything to a world that never gave you anything in return. 

 

Overall, Lance didn’t feel anything but pain. 

 

He could barely hear the concerned voices of his dads. His ears were working in a whole different time frame. He could only see the blurry outlines of Adam and Shiro when they would hover above him in worry. He could only hear the snippets of their latest conversation. 

 

“-fevers gone up-,” That sounded like Adam but he wasn’t sure. Shiro’s voice was in the mix too.

 

“-over 104.5-”

 

“-need to take him to the-”

 

“-ER is closed-”

 

“-can go to my office-”

 

Shiro was pacing around the room, basically on the verge of a panic attack. Adam was working a nasal tube up Lance’s nose, hands shaking and eyes fidgeting. Other than the look of discomfort, Lance had no other reactions. His eyes were half-lidded and teary, which for the most part pierced Adam’s heart with the amount of pain his little boy is in. 

 

“Shiro, babe. We have to take him to the hospital.”

 

Shiro stopped pacing. He looked up at Adam with fear clinging to his mindset and eyes holding more trust than ever. “Is that going to help him?” Adam nodded. “Then I think that would be the best decision.”

 

Adam got Lance situated and bundled him in light blankets and placed an ice cold washcloth on his forehead. Shiro got the car started and lined the backseat with towels while blasting the AC on high. Adam came scrambling out of the house with Lance in his arms and the oxygen tank swung over his shoulder. “Takashi? You can sit in the back with him. He might want you more than he would want me right now,” Adam said, carefully handing the bundle of Lance to Shiro. They both learned Adam was better at driving in intense situations. 

 

Shiro climbed in the backseat with Lance pressed against his chest as Adam shut the door behind him. Lance whimpered, tears sliding down his eyes. “Hang in there kiddo, we’re getting you some help.”

 

Adam spang into the driver's seat and pulled the car out of the driveway so fast Shiro didn’t even know they were moving. Speeding out of the neighborhood and into town, Adam’s eyes were trained sharply on the road but every so often they would glance back at the two in the back seat. Shiro had rolled Lance to his side, making it easier for the boy to breathe and if he needed to puke, the bucket was conveniently placed under his mouth. Shiro would occasionally mutter comforting nothings to the boy while rubbing his backside and massaging his chest. 

 

“We’re about five minutes away. How’s he doing?” Adam asked, turning around in his seat while they were stopped at a red light. The small brunette didn’t look any better. In fact, he looked ready to pass out. Shiro reached for the thermometer they had brought and popped it in Lance’s mouth. 

 

“He’s really sick Adam,” Shiro said, his voice failing him. He was so scared. Anxiety gripped him like an iron fist. Everything felt upside down. 

 

The beeping of the thermometer brought him out of his thoughts. His attention was pulled towards the glowing numbers on the little piece of equipment. 

 

105.1 F. 

 

Oh, God.

 

“ADAM! WE HAVE TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL NOW!” Shiro cried. “His fever is over 105!”

 

Adam’s stomach dropped. He swung around in his seat and slammed his foot on the gas pedal, regardless of whether the light was red or green. He would not let a stupid light be the reason he can’t get his son, that’s right  _ HIS  _ son, to the hospital. Adam took every chance he could to get through the traffic all while avoiding the police parked on almost every street. 

 

“S-Shiro?” Shiro jerked his head down to look at the sickly colored boy in his lap. “I-I d-don’t feel g-good.”

 

Almost on cue, Lance began bringing up streams of bile into the container below him. Only one word could describe the scene. Violent. 

 

“Shhh, it’s okay buddy it’s-” Shiro was cut off when Lance’s eyes rolled back into his head and began to seize violently. Lance was having a seizure. 

 

“Adam! He’s seizing!” 

 

Adam sped up as the hospital came into view. “We’re almost there. Just don’t confine his movements too much. Stay calm, it will be alright,” Adam said, worry tinted in his voice. He stuck his hand back for Shiro to grab ahold of. No one was aware of the tears on their face until they pulled into the parking lot and felt the cold air of the hospital lobby on their faces. 

 

Adam ran up to the front desk. “Adam? What are you doing here? You don’t work today-,”

 

“Vinny! We need an emergency ultrasound and a fluid IV, STAT!” The receptionist looked past Adam at Shiro, who had placed the seizing child on the floor. His face turned to look of shock and horror as he dialed a number on the black phone. 

 

“We need an emergency ultrasound and a fluid IV down at lobby eleven,” Vinny spoke swiftly but efficiently. He hung up the phone before picking it back up and dialing another number. “Shay! Prepare room 759 for a-,” Vinny looked up at Adam for a name.

 

“Lance McClain.”

 

“For a Lance McClain,” then he hung up the phone and rushed with Adam over to Lance, who had stopped seizing. His eyes opened halfway before closing them again due to the sudden light of the hospital lobby. 

 

“Lance, sweetheart. Can you say your name for me?” Adam asked, checking his pulse while Vinny got some tissues from the nearby coffee table. The patients that were previously sitting in the lobby had scattered or moved away from Lance as if he had the plague or something. They were probably giving him space. 

 

Lance opened his mouth to say something instead he was cut off by a few gags that eventually resulted in more vomiting. “Okay, bud. It’s alright,” Vinny grimaced. “Josh call the janitor!” 

 

Shiro looked up from the situation to see four nurses burst through the revolving doors with a bed and a bigger oxygen tank with more tubes attached to other parts of the bed. He recognized Shay, who rushed to Lance’s side while barking instructions at the other nurses. Lance was carefully placed on the bed and rushed out of the lobby. 

 

Shiro really wished he could follow. He wanted to hold his son’s hand and let him know he was gonna be okay and that they were gonna get through this. Tears fell so fast from his eyes but his expression was blank and unreadable. He could only stand there and watch his little boy be taken away from him. 

 

“Takashi, come here baby,” Adam murmured, pulling Shiro into his hold. At that moment they both crumbled. Sobbs echoed in the lobby and they could care less where they broke down anymore. They shook with every cry they let loose. 

 

Uncertainty is what kills a man in the end. 

 

But this was so far from the end. 

 

It was hardly the beginning for any of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Some updates. 
> 
> My schedule was a lil fucky but I'm back now and I'm trying to get some stuff done so I can post more. Thank You Guys For Being So Patient TM!!!!!


	5. All The Pain Of Yesterday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> News. The news was devastating. Strength lives on but for how long before something stronger takes control. 
> 
> Will Lance survive with what little hope he has left?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY! SOOO 
> 
> This will be the FINAL chapter of the Starting Fresh series. This series, for as much as I'd love to continue it, has become a bit too much. I mean that in a good way though. I have simply run out of ways to torture this poor family. Soooo what better way to do it than with a series finally deciding the final fate of Lance!
> 
> I hope you enjoy and as always, It's Been A Pleasure Piloting With You<3

White walls. Is that all they see anymore? Just white walls and big machines.

Shiro remembers when he first got used to the white walls of the long-term patient's wing of the hospital. He remembers the schedule he had made for himself from the time he woke up to the time he fell asleep. Wake up, get coffee, push through the day, fall asleep.

For Lance, it was the same as well, only a slightly different schedule. Wake up, throw up, nap, wake up again, feel better, get a headache, fall back asleep. Most people would find that hard to get used to but once you’ve been sedated to a hospital with stage a three tumor for almost a year, you tend to just fall into a routine.

After the chaos had cleared, it was just Shiro and Adam left in the lobby. All the other patients left either out of disgust or respect of privacy. Either way, they didn’t care. They sobbed for what felt like hours. Adam was the first to stop, only realizing that if they both continued to cry like this one of them would eventually pass out from dehydration.

Shiro’s head was pressed against Adam’s shoulder, trying so deeply to be hidden from the pain and agony of the world. He bawled... like he ugly cried. And Shiro never ugly cries unless it’s in front of Lotor, who is in the social services and sees a lot of crying, or when no one's around to soothe his anxiety. At this point Adam was concerned if he couldn’t manage to calm Shiro, the poor guy might end up in a hospital bed with a liquid IV in his arm from all the tears he cried. That was the last thing they needed right now.

Adam shakily took a breath. “Honey, I think we just need to sit down for a minute,” the brunette whispered, petting down Shiro’s matted hair on the back of his head. The only response he got from the man in his arms was another round of harsh sobbs as Adam led him by the hand over to the plastic chairs beside the receptionist’s desk. The door the nurse’s had taken Lance through swung open and Vinny emerged with a worried expression. Whether it was his general concern for Shiro or he had witnessed something genuinely disturbing, his eyes were at loss of color. Adam was fond of Vinny specifically for his bright attitude and bubby laugh. His eyes were a shocking color of green, but now they looked like the dying aspect of fall.

“I’m gonna get him some water,” The receptionist spoke, walking over to the desk and pulling out an empty jug like water bottle with a straw. The hospital usually reserves those for patients and such but Vinny had collected (stolen) many from the lost and found over the years. He kept them in his desk in case of situations like this.

“Thanks, Vin,” Adam sniffled out, trying to compose himself a bit more before trying to compose Shiro. In his experience, sometimes it’s best to let people cry it out if they have a healthy source of hydration that is. Adam let Shiro continue to sob into his neck while Vinny returned with the water bottle. Adam eased Shiro up despite how much he was sobbing and shaking.

“Drink some water, okay?” Adam whispered, pressing the plastic straw to Shiro’s lips. The man shakily took sips until he was no longer sobbing. Tears still free fell from his eyes, but he was breathing more steadily. By the time he was completely settled, the two sat in a comfortable silence. Well, as comfortable as a hospital gets in real terms.

Just then, a nurse came out of the doors Vinny had previously come out of. She was carrying a blue clipboard that contrasted with her grey eyes. “I’m looking for a Takashi Shirogane?” She said with a worried smile. She was wearing the same scrubs that all the other ultrasound technicians wore.

“Over here,” Shiro spoke, his voice as shaky as he was. He detached his head from Adam’s shoulder and took his hand instead. Adam squeezed it. Shiro knew this his way of telling him that everything was going to be okay.

The nurse made her way past the receptionist desk and to the two males sitting in the chairs. “Hi, I’m Lori. I’m going to be doing Lance’s ultrasound today. We couldn’t proceed with the ultrasound because we didn’t have an updated record of your authorization. Just sign these papers and we can continue with the scan,” She explained, Shiro already signing the papers regardless of what it said.

“Are we allowed to come back with him?” Shiro asked desperately as he handed her the clipboard. “Please?”

Lori’s eyes faltered. “Y-yes. You can but…” She glanced at the doors they would soon walk through. “This is serious. What Lance needs right now is a supportive dad. Please show him hope even if you feel you have none,” She said, her eyes filled with emotion.

“Hope is all we’ve got right now.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hospital hallways were particularly depressing.

Adam had these halls memorized like the back of his hand. It was easy to find Lance’s room because Shay, bless her soul, had set them up in the same room Lance had been in for his treatments and recovery. The same set up was still there. All the equipment was untouched since Lance was discharged. The only reason another person would be put in this unit is if they were six years old and had a tumor the size of a golf ball.

Hand and hand, they walked through the slow hallways of the long term patients wing. There weren’t many children in that wing so they used it for all long term patients now. Besides, Altea is a small town and it’s not every day a child under the age of seven comes in and is diagnosed with a deadly illness that sudates them to a long term care facility.

The second they set foot into his room was like time itself had stopped. The air was thick with tension and all other voices were drowned out by Shiro’s mind. All he could focus on was Lance. The poor kid looked a little better than when they first brought him in but not exactly by a stretch. He had a hydration IV in his right arm and a nutrient bag was hung on the left side. Shiro traced the second IV line with his observant watch. While he discovered the end of it, he uncovered more about his son’s conditions.

Wires littered the bed, overlapping one another at the semes. Breathing tubes were hooked up to his nose and mouth, which was a rare occasion the doctors would ever have to use both. Four monitors were set up around the room, although the old equipment from Lance’s previous hospital days was left untouched. Shay was standing beside Lance’s head, holding an ice pack in place on his hellish forehead. Her face was hard to read. Solem maybe, a little uncertain of something.

“Dr. West?” Adam turned his stiff body towards the doorway where they had just entered and saw Lori waiting with a portable ultrasound machine. “It might be too risky to try and move Lance to the echo rooms. Would it be ideal to perform the ultrasound in here?”

Adam thought for a minute, taking only moments to observe Lance from a distance. Finally, he spoke. “Actually, I’m going to look him over briefly before we decide what to do. I have a feeling this may require a more thoro test,” he said, eyes trained on Lance for a moment before he guided Shiro into one of the plastic chairs beside Shay. He pressed a chaste kiss to Shiro’s forehead before he got to work. Shay offered to grab Shiro a coffee but the man just shook his head. He didn’t exactly trust himself to speak at the moment. He only wanted to hold Lance and never let him go.

“Shay? Is he conscious?” Adam asked, pulling on a pair of latex gloves and pulling a stethoscope out of one of the white drawers.

“I think. He was responsive when we got the IV in his arm. I think the pinch brought him back into it,” She responded, tucking Lance’s bangs beneath the blue ice pack. Shiro’s eyes were trained solely on Lance’s face and the pain etched within his features. “Lance? Can you open your eyes for me? Maybe make a little noise?”

Shiro could tell he was trying. He was trying to open his eyes but he was losing that battle. He could see Lance’s face shrivel up in his attempts at opening his eyes. By a small miracle though, he got his eyes to open up half-lidded. Shiro pushed his body forward and held the boy's hand firmly in his own. Adam approached them as Shay pressed a button on the side of the hospital bed, making the cot rise up so the boy was somewhat sitting up. Shay helped him lean forward slightly so he was slouched and leaning against Shay’s body.

Though his eyes were only half-lidded, they still held a desperate need for the fatherly touch that Shiro had. “S-Shiro?” He barely managed to get out before he felt his throat go up in flames. Shay held Lance steady as Shiro got up to replace her body with his own. Now he had Lance cradled to his stomach and his arm wound around the boy to keep him from tipping over. For Lance’s sake, Shiro kept all his tears hidden back behind his eyes and kept up the role of a strong father while Adam efficiently cleaned off the stethoscope.

Adam placed the two ends of the medical tool in his ear and held the other one on Lance’s sweat-soaked back. “Okay, buddy. I need you to take a big deep breath for me okay?” Adam said, pressing a chaste kiss to the top of Lance’s head. The boy was very hesitant. He could barely breathe period. How was he supposed to take a deep breath?

Nonetheless, he tried. The slow intake of air was going well for the first few seconds before a burst of angry fire ignited in his lung. “AGH!” Lance screamed as another agonizing wave of pain rolled through his lungs as a cough erupted from his body. Shay hastily made her way over to the large oxygen tank that sat at the foot of the bed. She quickly increased the amount of air that was flowing through the tubes to see if it would help the boy in any way. She looked back up at the scene just in time to see Adam ripping the oxygen mask off Lance’s tear-stained face. Strings of mucus and bloody saliva dripped from the mask and Lance’s mouth as he continued to hack.

Shay’s eyes began to burn. “Adam! We have to get him a scan now,” She said, her voice cracking at the end. Adam looked up with pain filled eyes. Just as much pain as she had seen in Shiro’s eyes. But they were different. Adam’s eyes glowed with hope and pain, like a phoenix that had risen from the ashes of a forgotten memory. Shiro’s eyes were like faded moonlight, still shining but not as bright as it once had. Even in the dark, his moonlight was faded.

“Yeah, that would be a good call. Get Lori to bring the scanner by again,” He ordered, cleaning off the mask with a white towel. Shay sped out of the room just as Lance began to calm down from his latest coughing fit. He wheezed with every breathe he drew and everyone he exhaled. Adam managed to get the oxygen mask around Lance’s head again while Shiro rubbed his arms in order to keep him warmer. They couldn’t adjust the thermostat without setting off an alarm, which wasn’t uncommon. Shiro did it the first time Lance was in the hospital. They couldn’t even give him a blanket for fear of his fever spiking again.

“You’ll be alright buddy. You’ll be just fine. Keep squeezing my hand alright?” Shiro cooed, wiping the boy’s sweat and tears off his face with a damp towel. Lance gave a weak squeeze as Adam untied the back of his gown. He peeled off the sweat soaked gown from the top half of Lance’s body and prepared him for the ultrasound. They lowered the bed so Lance was laying on his back and he would possibly be more comfortable that way. He squeezed Shiro’s hand when the pain got almost unbearable. His hand would fly up to his chest, desperately clawing at his chest and waiting for the pain to subside. Shiro always ended up moving his hands away and rubbing his chest for him, hoping each time the boy wouldn’t scratch at his chest.

“NGH- It h-hurts so bad Shiro!” Lance wailed as Lori quickly set up the ultrasound machine next to the bed. Adam had moved over beside Shiro so he could give Lori some space to work and so he could hold Shiro’s other hand seen as the other one was occupied by Lance. Shiro looked hopeless.

“I know buddy. It will all be over soon, okay? Squeeze my hand some more,” Shiro tried, his voice shaky and clipped. He would be lying if he said his hand wasn’t hurting. For someone so weak at the moment, Lance sure could squeeze. And scream. The poor kid could nothing but scream and cry and wait out the pain, which seemed to be coming off in waves. Just consistent waves of never-ending pain and suffering.

By the time Lori had the probe on and working, Lance was barely conscious. His breathing became shallower than ever and his eyes seemed to be closing slowly by the minute. His grasp on Shiro’s hand was getting weaker. Tears still flowed down his fever-ridden cheeks and the ice pack Shay was holding on his forehead had gone room temperature. His entire body was shining with sweat and glowing with a raging fever. He was getting worse by the minute.

“I’m going to start near his lower lung area and work my way up to where we last saw his tumor,” Lori said, clicking the button on the side of the machine as the probe lit up. She took a tube of clear pink gel and lathered it on the plastic part of the probe.

“No, no! We don’t have time. Check the tumor right away,” Adam ordered, hovering over Lori’s shoulder. She nodded and began to trail the probe along the left side of Lance’s lung. The gel was warm so Lance could barely feel it over the immense heat his own body was giving off.

Almost as soon as Lori traced over an area near the bronchial tubes, the screen on the machine lit up with an angry red color. Lori peered at the image for a minute, almost wondering if there was a mistake. But these kinds of scans were almost always flawless. This can’t be what they were seeing.

Lori covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh my god… Adam you need to see this,” She said, astonished by the results. Adam moved beside her and clicked on the scan from that day. Shiro’s eyes fidgeted, trying to get a look at the scan they had taken. His anxiety spiked when Adam’s eyes went wide.

Adam backed away from the screen, his eyes going straight to the small child that lay in the hospital bed. “These scans have to be wrong. They have to be,” Shiro recognized this as denial. One of the stages of grief.

Shiro swallowed. “Adam? What’s going on?” He asked, his anxiety choking him as he tried to speak up. Adam’s eyes filled with sympathy and unshed tears. Adam never cried on the job. That was one thing that never happened. “Please, Adam! What’s happening?” Shiro’s voice cracked as tears fell from his eyes. Adam’s face crumbled just as Shiro’s did. The brunette ran to Shiro and gathered him in his arms, for that was all they could do. Shiro sobbed, even though he knew nothing of the situation. Adam silently cried. The two held each other for a few minutes before Adam spoke up.

“The tumor grew. It’s growing by the minute. It’s growing at an accelerated rate causing Lance an immense amount of pain. If we don’t-,” Adam paused to compose himself and make sure Shiro was still listening. “If we don’t perform emergency surgery, his airway could collapse under pressure.”

Suddenly Shiro stopped shaking. His tears slowed and he pulled away to find himself staring at his son. “He’s going into surgery?”

Adam nodded. He sat beside Shiro, taking his hand within his own. He rubbed circles on the palm of the other man’s hand while he let the shock seep into their minds. Lance began to stir as another wave of pain overtook him. He let out a shrill scream causing Lori to retract the probe and the two men to snap back to reality. Jarring coughs erupted as the breathing mask was eased off his face, with the assistance of Adam. Shiro hoisted him up into a sitting position, though the boy wasn’t exactly sitting up on his own. He was more or less leaning up against Shiro so he wouldn’t fall off the bed.

“Shhh, breathe. You’re okay. Just breathe,” Shiro repeated while Lori left the room to find an available surgeon. Adam pulled out a thermometer to check Lance’s temperature. The boy was still coughing up blood and mucus so he decided to hold off on jabbing another this into his mouth until he could breathe somewhat okay.

Lance eventually began to sniffle and whimper. “Shiro...” He called as if Shiro had left his side.

The man grabbed ahold of Lance’s hand. “Right here, buddy. Just try and keep breathing,” He said, noticing the sudden change in Lance’s breathing. They were short and shallow as if he was barely breathing at all. The wheezes he emitted were getting louder by the minute. Adam approached them with the thermometer in hand. He said nothing as he bent over and eased the thermometer into Lance’s mouth.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

104.9.

“Not much of an improvement. We need to get the fever down before he goes into surgery,” Adam said, with worry laced in his tone. He moved to check the hydration bag’s temperature when Lori and another man entered the room.

“Adam, this is Dr. Wellock. He’s one of the advanced surgeons that transferred here last week,” She said in a professional tone. “His schedule is clear this week so he can perform Lance’s surgery with your permission.”

The tall man smiled with sympathy as he stuck his hand out to shake Adam’s. “Hello! I’m, as already mentioned, Dr. Wellock. Is Lance McClain in the room currently?”

Adam shook his hand but kept his serious facial expression. He wasn’t in the mood to socialize with anyone other than Shiro. “Yeah, the kid sitting in the hospital bed is the one in need of a miracle here. Can we skip the small talk and get down to business so my son can get this damn tumor removed?” Adam half shouted by the end of his mini-rant. Shiro looked surprised by the sudden outburst. But at least he got the point across.

“Right, of course. My apologies,” He said, finishing up the handshake and approached the side of Lance’s bed. All playful looks in his eyes dispersed when he was able to take a good look at Lance. He turned back to Lori, who had her comforting hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Lori, go prepare the anesthesia bags and open up a surgery room ASAP.”

The blonde haired nurse nodded and left the room hastily, leaving Shiro and Adam with the surgeon. Adam walked around the bed to the chair beside Shiro and sat down heavily. Shiro’s gaze landed upon him as he grabbed Adam’s hand in his own. The brunette smiled half-heartedly in attempts to cheer up the other man. The only response he got was Shiro’s head rested heavily on his shoulder and an exasperated sigh. He still had his other hand holding Lance’s deathly still one, despite the occasional weak spasms.

Dr. Wellock replaced the room-temperature water in the IV bag with cooler water in hopes of bringing the fever down. He had also placed a blue ice pack on Lance’s boiling forehead. He extracted the nutrition IV out of the boy’s other arm and put a fun little band-aid over the small cut. Though the situation wasn’t fun for anyone at the given moment, it still might cheer the boy up when he comes to after the surgery.

“Adam, we have an opening for him down on the second-floor surgical unit,” Lori stated as she entered the room with an anesthesia bag and a fresh IV line.

Adam’s brows knitted together in worry and confusion. “I thought the second floor was for stage three medical procedures only?”

Lori tensed slightly, her fingers shaking as she fumbled to feed the IV line through the needle. “We took a closer look at the scans from earlier,” She stated, her voice just barely falling short of professional. It morphed into a shocking mixture of panic and solemness as she continued. “The tumor itself was growing but we found… something else.”

Adam could feel Shiro’s hand quake and tense around his own as Lori paused to gather herself before continuing. “The tumor mutated and believe me, that’s not a word we used lightly around here. We observed what looked like a second one growing off the side of the first one we began treating.”

Shiro felt as if he would pass out.

A second tumor? Mutated?

It was too much. Everything was too much. The walls, the machines, the sounds, the noises. Shiro could feel the whole room closing in on him, trapping him with his demons at every turn. The air was getting thin and cold. He felt as if he wasn’t even on earth anymore. He felt as if he was drifting in a black abyss of nothingness, with nothing but his thoughts torturing his mind.

Adam was in a different type of shock. He knew what the word ‘mutated’ in medical terminology meant. It meant there was a chemical connection between what was causing the tumor and what was curing it. The combination of the chemo treatments and the cancer cells that had broken off of the tumor must have triggered rapid growth in the pre-existing one but it had also opened an opportunity for another one to grow. This was unnatural and deadly.

One in five children does not survive cancer.

Adam let out a choked sob. He already knew what was coming. What Lori had to say next. The violent twist. The pain striking accuracy. The honest truth that would leave them broken all over again. Adam had seen it for himself. He’s had to break the news to families before. He’s had to tell them that their child wasn’t going to live. He’s seen the shock and hurt inside their tearful eyes. He’s heard the broken sobs of the people who would soon suffer a loss. He’s experienced all of it, and it’s safe to say he can’t leave the room dry-eyed. He feels for his patients and their loved ones.

“Adam?” Shiro’s wobbly voice pierced through the reflection of his past. “Babe? What’s going on?”

Adam sniffled, trying to compose himself. He looked back up at Lori, whose eyes held the same pain his own eyes held during these times. He hated to burden Lori with telling them but he just couldn’t come to think of anything else at the moment. “What’s the rate?” Adam asked, his voice unsteady yet clear while his eyes were sharp and focused.

“What rate?” Shiro asked, his voice becoming cracky and staggered. Adam was crying and Lori was tense. What was the rate they were talking about?

Lori took a deep breath. “Below 30% and dropping,” She said. Adam gasped as more tears flowed down his face. “Adam we have to perform this surgery now. If we don’t he will die.”

There it was. That was the rate. The survival rate everyone talks about in the shows. The slim chance they will come out of that room alive. The miracle everyone hopes for in the end. The one where the monitor goes flat but for some reason they live. If only it worked that way in reality.

Shiro felt his knees go out despite sitting in a chair. He felt the air in his lungs disperse into nothing and the good grace of Adam’s hand was now on his back. He could see the black dots dancing in his vision as the last bit of reality was caught before his mind went blank and his vision went black.

 

* * *

 

 

“He should come to in the next five to ten minutes.”

Shiro could hear someone. Where was he? He remembers sitting beside Lance’s bed and… and the news. He remembers the rate and the aftermath. Guess too many shocking updates could really do a number on someone. Like for instance, Shiro passed out after the truth came out. OH! Wait. Now he knows somewhat where he is.

“Thanks, Con.”

Adam?

“Anytime. You guys can wait in here until the surgery is over if you’d like. I know the waiting area is sometimes a little overwhelming.”

Con? Who’s that?

“Yeah, I think that would be for the best. Can we still have updates though? Like every half an hour or so?”

Shiro groaned. So many questions. Like why was there an oxygen mask on his face? God only knows right now. “Adam?” Shiro winced at the lack of strength in his voice. He winced at the artificial light in the room and the plastic heart monitor on his finger. He winced at the memories from the previous time he was conscious. Everything in this place made him wince.

Adam offered a weak smile as Shiro rubbed his eyes, trying to adjust to the lights. “Hey, hun. You scared me,” He said, his voice hoarse and his bloodshot. His hair was disheveled and his glasses had slid down the bridge of his nose. He looked just tired. Either exhausted or just tired of the situation. Adam moved his hand to Shiro’s cheek and untangled the strap to the oxygen mask. Shiro just settled into his touch.

Shiro’s empty eyes locked with Adam’s hopeless ones. “So… guess they took him in already.”

“Takashi, we couldn’t wait any longer,” Adam whispered. “We had already waited long enough. They had to do something or else-”.

“He would die,” Shiro finished. His eyes were now locked on the wall in front of him, wishing just to forget. It didn’t matter what, he just wanted to forget. “I just wish I could have at least said goodbye in case…” He trailed off, the last bit of hope left in his eyes gone.

Adam squeezed his hand. “Lance is strong. He won’t go out without a fight.”

“But he’s been fighting for so long, Adam,” Shiro whispered. Tears streamed down his face at a steady pace. “What does he have left to fight for?”

The question hung in the air. No one dared to answer, for fear they would be wrong. Lance came from an abusive household, surrounded by pain and hurt and loss. He was diagnosed with lung cancer and a stage three tumor. Half of his new life was spent in a hospital, receiving painful solutions to his illness. His mind was plagued with nightmares and forgotten memories.

What did he have left to fight for?

“He has a family. Not just you and I, but he Keith and Pidge and Hunk. He has Allura and Coran and Lotor and Shay. He has a lot of people to fight for because those people made his life worth living. He didn’t give up before and he sure as hell won’t give up today,” Adam said, his voice strong and steady. His bronze eyes held hope and passion. All other feelings of loss and abandonment were thrown to the wind. Shiro believed Adam. Everything was going to be okay.

 

* * *

 

 

Multiple nurses had stopped in to keep them updated or to ask if they needed anything. They were hasty, making sure they didn’t overstep any boundaries the two men had set. At one point, Shay made her way into the room. To say the least, she didn’t look great.

Her eyes were bloodshot, like Shiro’s, and she had dark bags under her eyes. Her bun was lazily tied back and her glasses were sliding back down her nose. “Do you guys need anything? Coffee? Water? Tea?”

“Updates,” Shiro grumbled into Adam’s shoulder like a four-year-old.

Shay sighed. “Legally, I’m not allowed to give you any updates, but I can tell you that the surgeons haven’t had any issues yet and that everything has been going smoothly.”

“Thank you, Shay,” Adam said quietly. “And I won’t rat you out to your boss.”

“Didn’t think you would,” She said, a forced sense of calm being pushed through her voice. “Shiro, I’ll get you some peach tea from the cafe and Adam I’ll get you something with vanilla in it.”

And like that, Shay was out the door as fast as she had come. The room was now left to Shiro and Adam to dwell in the suspends. The tension slowly seeps back into the room as conversations were scarce. The silence gnawed at them like a wild animal. The echo of machines and heels clicking in the hallway were the only things still keeping them sane.

The door they had thought Shay had closed was open to the hallway, where another nurse made her way through the oak wood door frame. She looked down at a clipboard and back up at Shiro. “You Takashi Shirogane?” She said, her New York accent leaking through her carefree tone. She didn’t have much of a professional sound to her voice. No sympathy. Just straight business.

Shiro gulped. “Y-Yes. I’m here.”

The nurse stared at the two men. “Alrighty then. Your kids doing fine. Lil trouble removing the tumor but otherwise he should have a smooth recovery.”

“Uh, that’s not enough.”

The nurse rolled her eyes at Adam. “Look, man, I don’t know what else to tell ya. I can print you out an official report from the surgeon but I highly doubt you would be able to understand half the words.”

Adam’s eyes were sparked with a fiery tone as he spoke again. “Listen here, lady! I work here! I can guarantee you that I understand far more of the words on that sheet than you could even comprehend. So I suggest you get me that report before I get in contact with your boss,” Adam spat. “OH! Wait a sec… I am your boss!”

The nurse scurried out of the room before Adam could get too carried away. His eyes were brimmed with anger and his chest rose up and down, heaving from his rant. Shiro was definitely shocked by Adam’s sudden outburst, but the news. God… Lance was going to be fine right?

“Adam, calm down,” Shiro whispered. “Please?”

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “She’s the only one who’s legally allowed to give us information and she says that?!”

“We can still get the report though. That will give us all the information we need, right?”

“Yeah… yeah, it will,” Adam said, taking a minute to calm down before he sat down back in the chair. Shiro sat up enough to pull Adam into a soft embrace. He patted down Adam’s disheveled hair all while pressing kisses to his temple. He knew Adam was stressed. They were both stressed. But Shiro knows that Adam wants to help in any way possible. Right now, lashing out at a nurse wasn’t the best route to go but what’s done is done.

After a while, Shay came back with the drinks and Shiro took off the oxygen mask. She had brought along the surgeon’s report from the halfway point in the surgery. They said their quiet, but appreciative, thank you’s before they read the report. It was tense and silent. Shay had left the room most likely out of respect for privacy.

The report was, like the nurse mentioned, complicated. Shiro's head was jumbled just looking at it. Long complicated words he would never understand. What the hell does epistaxis mean? Shiro was convinced it was a Harry Potter spell of some sort. Adam, on the other hand, knew exactly what the report was saying. He understood the words and the meaning behind each and every one of them. It was scarier for Shiro because he understood none of this. Big, long, scary words tended to put pressure on him.

“Adam? What does it say? Is it good? Is Lance going to be okay?” Shiro couldn’t stop the frantic questions from flowing out of his mouth. They wouldn’t stop. For every question he asked, a new one was born in the back of his mind. “Please please please, tell me he’s going to be okay,” Shiro blubbered, tears stinging his eyes.

Adam looked up with the widest smile he had ever seen. Somehow, Adam didn’t need to say anything. Shiro’s fear almost immediately dispersed. “He-He's going to be out of surgery an hour early,” He gasped. “Shiro, you know what this means right? Our baby’s gonna be okay.”

Both men broke down in tears. Happy tears of course. Their son was gonna come back out of surgery and be cancer free. He still may need recovery time but he will be free. Free from the pain of needles and modern medicines. He will be free from the hospitals and machines. He can finally be a normal kid again. He can finally be Lance.

 

* * *

 

 

Light.

Dark.

Light again.

Wait! Nope. Dark again.

It wasn’t the first time Lance had woken up in confusion. Chemos tended to cause that. This time he was waking up from something not necessarily painful. Just numb.

He doesn’t know what he wanted to remember from the previous time he was conscious. He remembers the pain. Lots of pain. He remembers needles and hands and Shiro collapsing. He doesn’t remember much after that. He was scared. He wanted Shiro or Adam or better yet, both of them.

Lance groaned. The light didn’t hurt his eyes today. It was good to see the morning light. It was a good reminder that he had made it another day. Breathing in the same air as his loved ones. He could use a reminder now and then that he wasn’t going to fall to the defeat of cancer. Adam wouldn’t let that happen.

“Hey, buddy,” Shiro whispered. He brushed the hair out of Lance’s half-lidded eyes. “How are you feeling?”

How did he feel? He felt a tight pull in his chest when he moved. Not the tight pull when he came out of a coughing fit or when he watched All Dogs Go to Heaven. Everyone got that pull. But this pull was different. It felt uncomfortable and stressful at every twist and turn. He felt fatigued. Like he couldn’t remember why he was laying in a hospital bed and feeling significantly better than the night before.

“S-iro? Sh-ro? S-io?” Lance slurred. He felt tired all over again. He just wanted to say something to get Shiro. He just wanted the gentle touch of his dad or the soft voice of Adam. Tears spilled down his cheeks and dripped onto the uncomfortably large oxygen mask on his face. He hiccuped, making weak grabby hand motions at Shiro.

Shiro smiled sadly. “Is something hurting you?” Lance shook his head no. Shiro wasn’t told he couldn’t touch Lance, but he was told not to move him drastically until given further notice. Adam told him he could let Lance curl up beside him as long as Lance didn’t put too much pressure on his right side where they had performed the surgery.

Shiro took Lance’s hands and eased them back down into the boy’s lap. He whimpered. “Shhh, buddy… I’m just gonna move some of the wires so I can lay down with you. You want to cuddle with Shiro?” Shiro cooed. He usually never used that terminology with Lance unless the boy was having a really bad day. Like a long night, nightmare, vomit, headache, cry, scary kinda day. The days that used to occur far more than they should have.

Lance seemed content with that answer. He sniffled while Shiro eased him up and over to the other side of the bed. The hospital beds ranged from uncomfortably small to overly large. Lucky for them, they got the generous dig due to Adam’s persuading and passive-aggressive threats. It was hard to move every wire out of the way but Shiro got it eventually. He felt terrible when he accidentally pulled on one of the wires connected to Lance’s chest. The poor boy let out a high pitched yelp and a strangled sob that broke Shiro’s heart. He spent about five minutes trying to calm the tiny brunette. But once all the wires were moved, Shiro lied down on his back and reached over to ease Lance into his arms.

“Come’re bud. I know you don’t know what happened but you’re all better now, okay?” Shiro whispered as he soothed the shaky boy, whose head was cushioned on Shiro’s chest. He made sure not to jostle the boy too much but he wanted to make sure he was comfy too. Lance hiccuped again. “Shhh, go to sleep bud. You’ll feel a little better when you wake up. I promise.”

Lance snuggled into Shiro’s chest. “Don’ lea- meh,” Lance slurred some more. Shiro found it adorable but the tears in his son’s eyes once again put his gushing on pause.

“I won’t leave you. Now just close your eyes,” Shiro hushed. Lance’s eyes fluttered a few times before they squeezed shut. Shiro kept his arm around Lance’s back and his other rested on his own chest. His hand was connected with Lance’s as he rubbed his thumb over the boy’s small, frail hand.

For once in their lives, everything was perfect. Well, not perfect but as perfect as it would get from there. Lance was cancer free. Shiro’s eyes filled with tears at the thought. No more treatments. No more pain. No more fear-induced tears. Just them. The three of them against all odds.

Because nothing is more beautiful than those who stumble from destruction and smile for surviving the chaos. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As one door closes, another one is broken down by me cuz I'm gonna write some other langsty stuff to torture yall with sooo... 
> 
> Also I know it's a day or two late but HAPPY GROUNDHOGS DAY BITCHES


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